Katekyo Swordsman Squalo!
by Aines445
Summary: The current boss of the Vongola, the Ninth, is of old age and ready for retirement... With that in mind, it must have certainly been from said old age that he picked Squalo Superbi to tutor Tsunayoshi Sawada.
1. Target 1

**Target 1: The Ninth**

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At the Vongola Headquarters, a certain swordsman and the Ninth boss of the Vongola were having a stare-off. The request had been made; the mission had been laid out. However, Squalo, whose loyalties practically made him have to cut the Ninth in half, was not very inclined to accept what had been asked of him. With a surprisingly analytical glare, Squalo thought long and hard about the Ninth's intentions.

Meanwhile, the Ninth had quite the innocent smile on his face as he stared at Squalo, one most people would be unable to resist. Even so, Squalo was a professional: he wouldn't fall for such things; if anything, that smile was annoying him further. Like Xanxus, Squalo thought the Ninth was completely unfit for ruling over the Vongola so, whatever kid he'd choose would never, ever be worthy of the title of Vongola Tenth. "What if I refuse?" Squalo asked, careful not to tread into a situation that would condemn the Varia.

"Well, that would most likely give the whole family mixed signs, wouldn't you think so? The Varia is suspected enough already," the Ninth calmly told him, still smiling, "Wouldn't you like to make up to that by contributing to its future?" The old man was surely convincing, though that hadn't been unexpected of him: unfit or not, he had become the boss of the mafia for a reason... beyond having been the only one available at the time with Vongola Blood.

... Which, apparently, some brat also happened to have. Tsunayoshi Sawada was his name: immediately, Squalo traced that surname back to the head of the CEDEF, Iemitsu Sawada; no wonder he had been chosen. Supposedly, he was a descendant of the First boss of the Vongola, so it made sense that his son could be picked out, as there was no other heir to the Ninth.

After all, Xanxus did not possess the Vongola Blood; that was a fact Squalo (and only Squalo out of the whole Varia) was aware of. While Squalo wanted to refuse badly, the Ninth did have a point: refusing could cause the Varia to be seen as even more clearly against the Ninth than they already were. Besides, Squalo was being given a chance to be constantly near one of Xanxus' most important obstacles, which was Tsunayoshi Sawada: like the saying, it would definitely be convenient to have his enemy closer to him...

"Hmph, fine! If it makes ya that happy, I'll fucking do it!"

* * *

 **Author's Notes:**

* * *

Yes, this will be a thing. If anything, it's already very much a thing... just not in the way you were expecting. As you've noticed, there was no First Words section like with KIM (Katekyo Illusionist Mammon), and this is because I didn't have any Author's Notes for this story before editing it: in other words, this section will become the First Words section, fused with the Author's Notes. Well, if you've just gotten here, then you wouldn't understand what I'm talking about at all. Whatever the case, it goes like this:

This story spawned from a scene in Target 7 of KIM (Katekyo Illusionist Mammon), another story of mine. I won't tell you the spoilers so you'll have to check it out to see what I'm talking about, but you can already guess that it involved Squalo being the home tutor instead of Mammon (which was basically the premise of KIM). Although I at first was only planning on writing a one-shot, I found that I actually couldn't do it since I had too many scenes on my mind and they were too short to kind of make for a very good one-shot: because of that, I, for the first time in my life, will write a series of really short chapters and actually pull it off! :D So yeah, expect all chapters to never really go over 1000 words, as I'm testing whether I can successfully pull off this short format. I feel compelled to call this a series of drabbles but since that's not technically it, I can't do it X.X

Anyway, for those who have been reading KIM, you might be thinking that this story will go exactly like that one: it seems like it from this first Target but trust me, it'll be completely different (from the second Target on, they'll barely resemble each other). Also, expect this story to be sillier and more comedic than KIM, and not with the fastest of paces: while KIM kind of has semi-serious vibes, I don't think this story will really have much of that, since it came from a more unlikely premise. I mean, why would the Ninth want Squalo as the home tutor? Well, I happen to know why and it will be revealed much later in the story but basically, you're not supposed to give much thought to this story. Whatever the case, any reviews and terms you wouldn't understand will be put before the start of a Target, but in general, this won't have First Words, alright? Alright!

So, look forward to the next Target? ^^


	2. Target 2

**Guest - I'm glad this has caught someone's interest; hopefully it will actually live to your expectations! While this update was rather fast (depending on your perspective, I guess), you should expect the next one in one month from now, since I'm gonna be working on a monthly schedule. Would that be fast enough for you? ^^' Whatever the case, thank you for reviewing!**

* * *

 **Target 2: The Door**

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Leaving Levi (if Mammon hadn't asked for extra fees, he would have been his first pick, honestly) as the temporary leader of the Varia and explaining the situation to him, Squalo immediately left to Namimori, Japan. While it could've seemed like Squalo was betraying the Varia, he had been far from it: instead, he was going to watch over Tsunayoshi Sawada, think of a way to break Xanxus free from the ice he was bound to and, when the time arose, kill his supposed pupil; as easy as that. Something like that, of course, required Varia Quality to pull off, as it involved being a fairly convincing home tutor.

... However, as everyone knew the name 'Squalo Superbi', they also knew the one thing he _never_ lacked was Varia Quality. Reaching the Sawada residence, Squalo found himself in front of a locked front door. Was he going enter through a window? No, since that was unnecessary. Was he going to bother knocking on the door and waiting to be answered? _Hell no._ With his right leg, he kicked the door down, successfully creating his entrance.

 ** _"Voooooii!"_** he shouted to make his presence known further. Causing a huge ruckus in the morning was, of course, the _best_ way to go about entering a house; it at least entertained him somewhat. At the sight of Nana Sawada and Tsunayoshi Sawada, one having been interrupted while walking to another room and the other having been about to leave for school respectively, Squalo grinned. Afterwards, Squalo pointed his sword at Tsuna, but was facing Nana. "My name is Squalo Superbi, and I'm gonna be that piece of trash's home tutor from this day on, ya hear me?!"

... Tsuna only shrieked in fear.

* * *

 **Author's Notes:**

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Squalo = 2 cool 4 doors XD

Since this is a series of really short chapters, I can't really rush anything (meaning that this won't have a fast pace); you're already seeing the juicy parts to begin with. I'm really hoping you're okay with that, since I happened to make the what if scenario involving the more popular character (Squalo) into this series of short chapters while the what if scenario about Mammon is in long chapters ^^' I mean, this isn't supposed to be super serious, so it's not like you're here to enjoy a super deep story (sshh, don't think about the Varia arc, that stuff will be for later). Whatever the case, I uploaded this Target today to basically mark its schedule: this story's Targets will always be uploaded at Fridays (Edit: the schedule's just monthly now, so forget the Fridays ^^'), and they're monthly since I want to be ahead of you at all times.

Since the first Target, this got 8 favorites and 16 followers, which I found amazing for these sort of chapters 0.0 Even so, I got pretty happy that a lot of them were followers from KIM (Katekyo Illusionist Mammon) ^^ Whatever the case, thank you! And... look forward to the next Target? Hahaha, I wonder if you've found out the titles' logic... ^^


	3. Target 3

**Tsuyoshi - omg Tsuyoshi, it's you! I remember you 8D Awesome that you came by since this is what I was talking about when I was being vague about a certain question (though sucks that you'll only see that a bunch of Targets later). Anyway, yeah, having Squalo interacting with Yamamoto without them having fought or done anything to eachother is still rather interesting, though also expected (I won't say why though ;D); I'm glad you're looking forward to it! Hahaha, while the mental image of Tsuna going like, "I'll do this with my VOOOI-ING will!" is absolutely glorious, Squalo also doesn't have Dying Will Bullets (VOOI-ING Will Bullets, I mean).**

* * *

 **Target 3: Food**

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Somehow, after that, Squalo had been warmly welcomed to the house and allowed to stay there for as long as he wanted, provided he would do his job as Tsuna's home tutor. Everything was going according to plan, Squalo noted; as expected. "My, Squalo-kun, you're amazing...!" Nana exclaimed in admiration, only for Squalo to smirk proudly. "You've finished already!"

"Hmph, what would you expect?!" Holding a far too quickly emptied plate that used to contain food five minutes ago up, Squalo shouted, "Vooi, one more!"

Nana's eyes widened further as she took the plate, even more admired. "Are you sure you haven't eaten enough?" Worried for his health, Nana found the need to ask that question, seeing as Squalo had already eaten at least ten servings of the food she had prepared; she even had to cook more to accommodate him.

"Why else would I ask ya if not because I'm sure?! Now go get me one more serving of that, woman!" Squalo had never considered himself a big eater, and he surely had never eaten so much in his life.

However, after many, many years of having to deal with eating the Varia's subpar meals, the Japanese food he had tasted was almost divine to his taste buds: as far as he was concerned, he'd eat until he'd drop to the floor since Tsuna's mother had, to his surprise, amazing cooking skills.

Meanwhile, Tsuna was only watching from afar with a blank gaze, a notebook in hand: it was a Math notebook, which he had supposedly been made to use by Squalo... the same Squalo who was currently too busy with food to pay him any attention. _What kind of home tutor are you supposed to be...?!_

* * *

 **Author's Notes:**

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Since the last Target, this story got 3 favorites and 11 followers! Seriously, that's awesome, so I feel kind of bad that after a month of waiting you get this Target just about Nana and Squalo and food and Tsuna left there to gawk incredulously XD It's not like Squalo's incompetent, he's just enjoying his food! I imagine after Xanxus got frozen, the Varia's general staff kind of disappeared with him (from the lack of financial support from the Vongola beyond money for rare missions and lack of a fairly wealthy Xanxus in general); Bel's probably the only one still eating high-class food (since he's rich). Also:

"..." = Dialogue

'...' = Quotation marks, mocking tone

 _itallics = thoughts, emphasis_

 **bold = intensity  
**

 _ **itallics and bold = extra intensity**_

Squalo only isn't always talking in bold because it'd be jarring XD


	4. Target 4

**Target 4: Stairs**

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While Squalo was already scary in general, when he would _truly_ get scary, in Tsuna's eyes, was when he was actually bothering to tutor him. "You see that building over there?" Squalo pointed at a fairly tall apartment building with his sword which, Tsuna noted, was practically his hand since he had none. "You're gonna run to the top floor," he said, "using the stairs. Five times."

"W-what?!" _No way, that's gotta have like, over 15 floors; I can't do that!_ "That's way too unreasonable!" Tsuna protested, clearly frustrated. At first, Tsuna had no idea what to make of Squalo Superbi: he seemed mostly like a very strange, violent man leeching off the Sawada residence... until said violent man told him he was there to make him a mafia boss. Naturally, Tsuna refused the position right away, but found himself still having no choice but to deal with Squalo's training.

... After all, Squalo was scary. "Vooi, 'unreasonable', you say? That's fucking child's play, you shitty brat! If ya can't even go up and down some stairs then you're not even worth talking about!" _Those aren't just 'some stairs'!_ While Tsuna wanted to say that, he ended up whimpering instead, finding Squalo's glare far too terrifying for him to risk those words. "So, what are you waiting for?! Get movin', trash!"

"B-but...!" Tsuna hesitated, his gaze having fallen to Squalo's sword: he'd seen it being used, so Tsuna knew it could slice him apart too; it definitely wasn't a toy. "That's impossible for someone like me...!" Even so, he found a need to complain, especially when he was being given such ridiculous training.

... Seeing Squalo position his sword at Tsuna's line of sight, he immediately regretted his words. "Well, tough luck!" Squalo countered, "It's either going up some shitty stairs or getting slashed in three pieces; what's your pick?!"

Tsuna did not even need to give him an answer: he started running for that building as if his life depended on it, tears almost falling from his eyes out of sheer fear. "Thought so." Squalo grinned. To scare Tsuna off (and amuse himself) further, he shouted, "Voooi, and you better get that done in 15 minutes or you'll have to do it all over again!"

Tsuna shrieked in horror.

* * *

 **Author's Notes:  
**

* * *

Now Tsuna wishes Squalo would get distracted with Nana's food XD This is one of my favorite chapters of this story, though now it seems really short. Boy, am I glad I'm releasing these chapters on a monthly basis because otherwise, I wouldn't be publishing anything KHR-related at all, hahaha...! Ha... ha... Either way, out of all stories, this is the one that will have the most consistent schedule because I have enough chapters to cover more than a year of time. Meanwhile, my other stories have really long chapters so I probably will have to give up on a schedule (in KIM's case; the others don't even have a schedule).

Whatever the case, this story got 4 favorites and 6 followers since the last chapter, which is pretty awesome! Thank you for that! Hopefully this chapter will live up to your expectations... ^^


	5. Target 5

**Target 5: Kyoko**

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In all the time he had spent with Tsuna so far, Squalo had never bothered with his school life, and he had intended to keep it that way: school was boring, after all. Besides, he wasn't in charge of having him be the biggest nerd in History; Squalo was there to make him a mafia boss (or, more specifically, to pretend to be there to make him a mafia boss). However, Squalo had been terribly bored that day, so he decided Tsuna could be privileged enough to have him by his side while he went to school.

"Ah, Sawada-kun! This is rare." At the distinctly female voice, Squalo immediately snapped his head towards its source, which was a girl about Tsuna's age with short, light brown hair. She had a cheerful smile on her face, and seemed to know Tsuna. "I usually don't see you when I go to school." Since Squalo had decided to accompany Tsuna (something he had not wanted at all), he hadn't been late for school for once in his life.

Due to that, Tsuna had actually met Kyoko, his crush coincidentally while walking to school; he suddenly felt immensely grateful to Squalo. "K-Kyoko-chan! Good m-morning...!" Squalo's eyes narrowed. _What the hell?_

"Good morning!" she greeted back, only for Tsuna's cheeks to redden in embarrassment; Squalo raised an eyebrow in confusion. After that, finding that Kyoko's attention had started being on Squalo, he immediately proceeded to glare at her... not that she had noticed. "Who's this? Your older brother?" Kyoko curiously asked Tsuna, smiling at Squalo afterwards.

Before Tsuna could even attempt to open his mouth, Squalo had already started shouting, "Vooooi, like hell I'm this brat's brother! My name is Squalo Superbi, and you better remember it now that I've told ya!" He pointed at her with his sword, making her blink in surprise.

Meanwhile, Tsuna had an incredulous expression on his face. "S-Squalo...!" Since he could potentially harm Kyoko, Tsuna was actually more angry than he was depressed, as he would not be able to bear it if anything happened to Kyoko.

"What?! You got a problem?!" Squalo shifted his attention to Tsuna with the same outraged expression, but found himself somewhat thrown off by the fact that Tsuna was different from usual: not only had he been blushing ever since the girl had gone up to him, but he also seemed to get angry exactly when Squalo had pointed his sword at her. After a few moments of processing that, Squalo realized the reason behind Tsuna's actions; he grinned. "Oh, I got it; I guess I should've expected that out of a shitty brat like you!"

Squalo had only been unable to guess before because love was the last thing that would ever cross a Varia officer's mind: when he did finally understand, Squalo found himself wanting to laugh at how pathetic Tsuna was. _Right away, he's got an exploitable weakness! Voi, this is fucking ridiculous!_ "What are you even saying...?!" Tsuna questioned, a confused expression on his face.

Tsuna would've remained that way if not for Kyoko suddenly giggling, making both Tsuna and Squalo turn to her confusedly. "You kind of remind me of my older brother, Squalo-san," Kyoko said, "You're also really loud and eccentric; I bet you'd get along really well!" _Kyoko-chan, no!_ Tsuna's face immediately went from surprised to pale, knowing that the swordsman beside him would not be appreciative of those words.

... Never again was he going to accompany Tsuna to school, Squalo noted. With a dark glare and his sword practically aiming for Kyoko already, Squalo found the absolute need to counter her words, if not just kill her then and there. **"Voooooooi...!"**

* * *

 **Author's Notes:**

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Since the last chapter, this story has gotten 7 more favorites and 9 more followers! Thank you! ^^ I'm pretty sure I've already said this before, but that's pretty amazing for a fic like this one, at least in my eyes. Anyway, I guess Squalo killed Kyoko lol... Okay, he didn't kill Kyoko, thankfully. But he was close XD I do imagine professional assassins like Squalo would never have romance on their mind; they... like killing things, after all. The whole Varia's probably like that too. Kyoko is so nice and innocent though: I think it was with this chapter that I realized the similarities between Squalo and Ryohei.

Whatever the case, look forward to the next chapter? ^^


	6. Target 6

**Target 6: Tsuna's Notebook**

* * *

In his own room, Tsuna's hand shook out of fear as he attempted to write the last few numbers he thought the exercise required for it to be finished. "Are ya done yet?" Immediately, Tsuna flinched. Glancing at Squalo, Tsuna found that he seemed extremely bored: Squalo was lying on the ground of his messy bedroom and gazing at his sword out of having nothing to do. Though, seeing as Tsuna was giving him no answer, Squalo repeated, **"Voi, are ya done yet?!"**

"I-I'm almost done; really!" In a rush, Tsuna's numbers became even more distorted, making it doubtful that Squalo would ever read through them. Besides, Squalo was already completely unmotivated to begin with: when it came to anything academic, Squalo lacked any patience he would've had in a different situation.

Squalo glanced at Tsuna, as if to check if he really had quickened his pace. "Hmph, you better be," he responded, "because after this, you're getting your lazy ass off your stupid studying and clean the dump that's your bedroom! At least that'll be a better way to waste your time!"

Tsuna dropped his pencil. "What...?!" he uttered, looking around him: in his perspective, it looked like how it normally was. While Tsuna knew that his bedroom was messy in comparison to many others, he still found no need to do anything in particular about it; it was too much work.

"Ya heard me, trash, you're cleaning your bedroom; got any problem with that?! Instead of sittin' around and doing nothing, you've gotta move!" As if to express his point further, Squalo had stood up and waved his sword around while he spoke, almost as if the sword was truly a replacement for his right hand (which it was, in a few ways). "With just Math, you're not gonna get anything done!"

... Tsuna found himself unable to deny that statement. However... "B-but I don't wanna...!" Tsuna complained, completely focused on Squalo rather than the Math exercise he had been doing previously.

"Voooi, stop whining! You're gonna do it whether you want to or not!" After those loud words, Squalo looked down at Tsuna's right hand, which was holding no pencil. "And finish that shitty equation thing already, damn it!" While it was already obvious Squalo didn't actually know what Tsuna was doing, Tsuna was too scared to give insight on that.

Tsuna frantically nodded as he picked up his pencil, looking helpless. "Y-yeah, I'll deal with that right away!" In three seconds, he had already finished writing the answer. That was record time for Tsuna: perhaps Squalo's methods were really the most effective to teach him (even though they were mostly unintentional). "D-done!"

"About fucking time!" Squalo snatched Tsuna's notebook from his hands right after saying that and quickly looked over what he had done. "Voi... I can't read this thing, you piece of trash! What the hell were you doing all this time?! If you can't even write straight, how are you even planning on solving these Math problems?!"

Squalo threw Tsuna's notebook on the floor and stormed out of the room, causing Tsuna to whimper. _I only couldn't write because of you...!_ However, right when Squalo was by the stairs, he shouted to him, "You better get to cleaning that shithole of yours right now, because I'm goin' out! I can't stand your room! If it's not damned sparkling by the time I get there, believe me that my sword will be used to cut you in three!"

With that, Tsuna heard the sound of Squalo doing down the stairs, his footsteps as loud as his words. As he thought about it, Squalo did have to stay in his room for a long time just to watch over him, and he never looked too happy about it. Not only that, but Squalo also seemed to find Tsuna's room to be more of a priority than him actually learning; Tsuna's helpless gaze turned blank. _In the end, he's just sick of my room, isn't he...?_

He then glanced at his notebook. _And Math..._

* * *

 **Author's Notes:**

* * *

W-what do you mean, I've been forgetting my upload schedule when it comes to this story? Hahaha... Yeah, I totally have. But I'm still on time, because it's February and I'm supposed to upload on a monthly basis. Anyway, since the last chapter, this story got 5 favorites and 5 followers! Thank you! ^^ That's pretty awesome, seeing as I haven't been working on KHR-related stuff at the moment.

And it looks like Squalo can't take Tsuna's bedroom XD I mean, you'd think Squalo's actually got things pretty well-organized since he becomes the strategist and all that. Though, really, can you ever imagine Squalo being into Math? You can with Bel, but totally not Squalo. He might do it out of necessity or something, but I'd bet he doesn't have the patience for Math.

Whatever the case, look forward to the next chapter? Things might just happen there ;D


	7. Target(s) 7

**Target(s) 7: Ryohei and Tsuna**

* * *

It was only 6:30 in the morning when Tsuna was suddenly woken up by a loud voice. "Voooooii!" He immediately recognized it as Squalo and groaned to his pillow. _Why...?!_ "Get your lazy ass out of that bed and go outside; you're gonna train!" Tsuna groaned again. "Ya hear me?!"

Having no choice, Tsuna practically jumped out of his bed before he could even let Squalo threaten to cut him apart if he were to not do otherwise. With a yawn, Tsuna looked around his clean room, still having not gotten used to how it would look. Meanwhile, since he had successfully woken Tsuna up, Squalo had already left Tsuna's bedroom without him even noticing.

Sighing, Tsuna decided to quickly change out of his pajamas and randomly put on the first T-shirt and set of pants he'd see, lest he'd want to see Squalo's wrath if he were to take too long (not that Squalo wouldn't be angry anyway). _I don't wanna do anything, but I don't have any choice..._ With a troubled frown, he walked out of his room, not feeling up to doing anything that tiring on a weekend (or in any day in general). **"Voooi!"**

Tsuna flinched. _Is he complaining already?!_ Thinking that was the case, Tsuna dashed through the stairs and immediately reached for the front door without even greeting his mother. When he opened it, however, he found a sight he had never expected. "I've already apologized to the extreme! What's your problem?!" Right in front of his house, a silver-haired teenager with a bandage on the bridge of his nose who seemed to be around Tsuna's age (or slightly older, he deducted) was arguing with Squalo, something Tsuna (or most people, really) would consider suicidal.

"How about the fact that you were almost going to make me drop my sword from how hard you bumped into me, huh?! If I were just a regular guy, I could've even fallen because of your stupid 'jog'! Consider yourself lucky that didn't happen, you piece of trash!" Because otherwise, Squalo guaranteed in his mind, the boy in front of him would've been killed afterwards without any hesitation... or so he would have wanted, but he had been earnestly urged by the Ninth not to do so, and considering one of the reasons Squalo even agreed to tutoring Tsuna in the first place was so the Varia wouldn't get a bad reputation for rejecting the offer, he knew he was better off not doing such actions. With that in mind, Squalo was even more pissed off, finding that he really couldn't cut him apart even though he had interrupted him while he was doing something as important as sword maintenance (having thought Tsuna would take that long to come).

Tsuna merely stared in shock and horror, finding it somewhat perplexing how similarly loud both were: while Squalo did happen to be slightly louder, the boy he was arguing with managed to still be pretty loud by normal standards; not only that, but they both seemed thick-headed. "I'm not a piece of trash to the extreme! My name is Ryohei Sasagawa!"

Tsuna flinched. _Sa-Sasagawa...?!_ The only person he knew with that surname was Kyoko, though it was still possible that Ryohei was completely unrelated to her. However, when he reminded himself of what Kyoko had said when she met Squalo (the memory of Tsuna having to hold him back from Kyoko and then having Squalo target him with his sword afterwards surged as well, but he quickly dismissed that trauma), Tsuna found himself doubting that to be the case.

 _"You kind of remind me of my older brother, Squalo-san. You're also really loud and eccentric; I bet you'd get along really well!"_

... Really, who else in the world would always somehow cram in the word 'extreme', if not for an eccentric person? Besides, when Kyoko had said they were similar, she wasn't exaggerating, Tsuna noted: they were even somewhat similar in appearance; if only Ryohei had long hair... _But wait, that means he's Kyoko-chan's brother!_ "No, stop, Squalo!" Tsuna immediately exclaimed, seemingly panicked. _If Squalo were to hurt him, Kyoko-chan would definitely be sad..._! "Don't do anything, please!"

Both Squalo and Ryohei turned to Tsuna confusedly. "Huh? Who are you?" Ryohei asked while scratching his head, actually trying hard to see if he recognized someone like Tsuna.

"Voi, and why should I listen to you?!" Meanwhile, Squalo was angry from being interrupted, by Tsuna no less; Squalo was better than that. Nervously, Tsuna moved forward and out of the house's premises, though also making sure he was at a safe distance from Squalo and his sword.

That meant he was closer to Ryohei than anything, even though he didn't know him personally, only assuming he was Kyoko's brother (while he was correct, it was still a risky guess). "B-because..." Tsuna glanced to one side, and then the other: Ryohei was in his line of sight. _I don't want him to just get hurt...!_ "Because I'm going to do that training you were talking about with him...!" As Squalo blinked in confusion, Tsuna quickly grabbed Ryohei's arm and started running away with a panicked expression, barely having any idea of what he was doing. _That made no sense, why did I do that...?!_

While Ryohei was also surprised, Squalo had quickly finished processing what exactly Tsuna had pulled on him... and was definitely mad at him for it. _**"VOOOOOI,**_ you shitty brat, get back here!"

"What are you doing to the extreme?!"

... Look back at an extremely confused Ryohei, Tsuna felt like he was about to cry. "Why did things have to turn out this way...?!"

* * *

 **Author's Notes:**

* * *

One of the best parts about a what-if scenario like this is writing how exactly Tsuna will or would ever befriend the characters from the show without Reborn, since it's very much verifiable that it was all his fault that Tsuna even got any friends in the first place. Meanwhile, Squalo doesn't give a damn about friends, so the only influence he'd have in that regard is pissing others off, who would then meet Tsuna. I guess Ryohei is one of these examples? Ryohei is a surprisingly hilarious character to write; it's not that difficult to write Ryohei: he's so straightforward that you don't have to think too hard about the actions or motivations behind said actions. Whatever the case, Squalo... sucks at getting along with people.

Since the last chapter, this story got 1 favorite and 7 followers, which is awesome! Thank you ^^ I would've put it as Targets 7 and 8, but I wasn't feelin' it. Besides, who needs logic in a story like this, am I right? Hahahahaha... Hahaha... ha...


	8. Target 8

**Target 8: Just Ryohei**

* * *

After that, somehow, Ryohei had decided to become friends with Tsuna. Apparently, Squalo's physical training had actually been working as Tsuna had developed enough stamina for him to attain Ryohei's approval... though both had still been caught by Squalo, and luckily for them, he couldn't kill the future tenth boss of the Vongola just yet. Whatever the case, Tsuna had gained a new friend, who also happened to be Kyoko's older brother. "Sawada, just join the boxing club already!"

... Anyone in Tsuna's position would've at first thought having a friend like that would be great, but after realizing Ryohei would be constantly trying to convince them to join the Boxing club, they would most likely regret even thinking that. "N-no!" Even while he was actually trying to study in his bedroom (by Squalo's orders), Ryohei was there to attempt to convince him, having flat out intruded upon the residence (not that Nana had minded that). "Can you just please let me finish this...?!"

"Why?! Rather than doing that, you should be joining the boxing club to the extreme! I guarantee it's much better than those equation things!" Like Squalo, Ryohei obviously didn't even know what Tsuna was doing, but didn't care either. The fact that Ryohei was genuinely confused as to why Tsuna would be doing his homework only served to depress Tsuna further, finding himself in a hopeless situation. _Just how do I get him to stop asking...?_

It seemed impossible; Ryohei was too persistent. Suddenly, the door was slammed open. "Vooi, you're not done yet?!" Squalo had returned, Tsuna noted: that was how long he was taking because of Ryohei. Squalo had even left the house to do whatever (Tsuna didn't dare to ask), only for Ryohei to have entered a while afterwards, ruining the peace in the household. Noticing him, Squalo glared at Ryohei... Tsuna gulped, predicting what was going to happen next. "What the fuck are you doing here, trash?! If ya don't want to get slashed in three by my sword, you better get out!"

"I've told you many times already that I'm not trash to the extreme! When will you remember my name?!"

"Hah, as if I'd bother with your name! As I also said many times already, trash is still trash; that won't change! Now stop getting in that shitty brat's way and leave!"

"I'm not getting in his way: I'm asking him to join the Boxing club to the extreme!"

"And he's already refused; give it up already! I don't care about any of your stupid reasons if it gets in the way! That brat's still gotta train after this, and I'm not gonna take your shitty nagging!"

"You're the one who's always extremely in the way! This doesn't even have anything to do with you! I'm asking Sawada to join the Boxing club because I see his potential, and I want him to recognize that as well; that's why I will never give up!"

... Tsuna's head dropped to the table as he zoned out of Ryohei and Squalo's bickering. With an absolutely helpless expression on his face, Tsuna started wondering if the scene he had just witnessed was going to always repeat itself and eventually become commonplace in his daily life, having already enough with a violent home tutor wanting to make him a mafia boss.

Tsuna groaned.

* * *

 **Author's Notes:**

* * *

Yup, Tsuna's suffering now lol Ryohei means well, but we'd all get annoyed at some point, admittedly. The story is actually progressing more smoothly than expected even without Reborn, believe it or not. Sure, that may just be because this story doesn't have much detail (unlike Katekyo Illusionist Mammon which was much more detailed), but everyone's going pretty well. I do feel bad that this story's format makes the pace be a bit strange and not let you see how certain things develop, but yeah... I'm gonna keep to the really short chapters, I can't suddenly change what I'm doing. Besides, this story's more comedic so you're not supposed to give this one as much thought.

Either way, this story got 5 favorites and 5 followers since the last target, which is pretty awesome! This also got added to a community; as always, it's unexpected but cool! Look forward to the next Target? ^^'


	9. Target 9

**Target 9: Salt**

* * *

Since Squalo barely bothered with Tsuna's school life beyond his obligation to teach him school subjects (as part of him being a home tutor) or, as Squalo had decided to do, make Tsuna study on his own, he would usually find himself with a lot of free time on school days. It wasn't like he wasn't used to it already, having gotten practically nothing to do in the Varia's Headquarters beyond boring leader work and the rare mission, but he would still find himself bored, and there was no old paperwork to stab (better than stabbing lower-ranked members of the Varia, surely) either. In other words, Squalo, when not having to deal with Tsuna, had to distract himself by other means.

"Voi, this is it, right?!" With two leeks and a lettuce in hand, Squalo walked over to Nana at a pace considered monstrous by others, but normal by him. If anything, he had actually noticed everyone's disturbed stares directed at him but he didn't care, and Nana hadn't even noticed that. "What's next on the list?!"

Nana smiled cheerfully and took the vegetables from him, putting them in the shopping cart behind her. "Well, let's see..." Afterwards, she rummaged through her purse with a thoughtful expression, only to take a paper out of it. "Now that you've brought those, we need..." She read through the list carefully and glanced behind her many times to check if anything was missing while doing so, not having any pen to scratch out what she had already gotten. "Salt! That's the only thing left!"

"Salt, huh? I'm pretty damn sure I saw that at the back of this place," Squalo said, "I'll go get that!" Squalo stomped off to find salt, still with an intimidatingly serious expression on his face that made no one in the supermarket dare to even be close to any of the sections he would be at. In many ways, shopping for groceries with Nana was something of mutual benefit to both of them: while Nana could get that done faster, Squalo would also get his meals faster...

... Or so went the excuse he would use if anyone were to ask, wanting to preserve his pride. Instead, Squalo just happened to be an assassin with too much free time.

* * *

 **Author's Notes:**

* * *

Somehow, this is one of my favorite targets, hahaha. I just like the simplicity of it, though nothing in particular related to Tsuna happens. Nana and Squalo interacting is such a weird thought to have that I really can't help but writing targets like this, where it just happens and... works, you know? Even though you wouldn't think it would. Anyway, since the last target, this story got 5 favorites and 4 followers, thanks a lot! Though my other KHR stories haven't been active, I've admittedly still been writing this, mostly because it isn't very stressful and targets don't take long to be finished. Even then, I don't work all that actively on this ^^'

Whatever the case, look forward to the next target?


	10. Target 10

**Target 10: Tsuna's Bullies**

* * *

Ever since Ryohei had become Tsuna's friend, he had found no need to worry about bullies. They had never been that common, most students usually preferring to just make fun of Tsuna instead of physically harming him, but the few that were still around had stopped being a problem.

... If anything, Tsuna felt like Ryohei had become the bullies' problem instead. "Bullying is extremely lame, so stop doing that to Sawada!" Ryohei exclaimed just after he had very one-sidedly beat said bullies in an "extreme match for Sawada's sake, not just some fight," or so he had claimed. Tsuna could see where he was coming from, but it still didn't change the fact that Ryohei had beaten them really badly.

Because of the obvious efforts from Ryohei to stop Tsuna from being so mistreated, a lot of students had also stopped making comments in general, so Tsuna didn't really have any reasons to complain. "Ugh... What the hell... Since when did Sasagawa become friends with No-Good Tsuna anyway...?" one of the bullies muttered, a pained expression on his face. They had been the ones who had approached Tsuna first: if they hadn't done anything, they could've avoided their fate. Even so, Tsuna couldn't help but feel (somewhat) sorry for the bullies; they had not been expecting Ryohei at all.

"Since Sawada showed extreme skill fit to join my Boxing club, of course! You should all start acknowledging him as well!" While he wasn't as great as Ryohei, Ryohei thought Tsuna had potential, and potential, combined with (extreme) effort, was the key to everything: basically, he wanted Tsuna to reach his full potential in the Boxing club. Beyond that, Tsuna just seemed like a good guy, so he didn't mind being around him. "Speaking of that...!"

Meanwhile, though Tsuna considered Ryohei a good person, he had to admit that the Boxing club was the last club he would ever want to join. "Uh, oh no, I've got to... t-to... go to the bathroom! I-I'll see you later!" While Ryohei was a tolerable, even decent person to be with, the amount of times he had to refuse an invitation to the Boxing club had led him to say such terrible lies just so he could stop the invitation counter from going up any further.

* * *

 **Author's Notes:**

* * *

Since the last Target, this story got 5 favorites and 5 followers! Let's hope this target will still be answering people's expectations. As expected of this story, it's short. It's a bit perplexing for me to see because I'm now used to writing chapters about 15000 words long, so it feels like a different person wrote this lol. Well, the past me wrote this, really. Present me is just seeing if there's anything wrong with the writing. Anyway, as for the target itself, it's pretty awesome, in my perspective, how Tsuna manages to get friends even with a different home tutor: when you watch the show, you know Reborn's responsible for Tsuna having friends and doing all sorts of stuff, but there's no Reborn here to influence Tsuna's life. Instead, Squalo became this influence, and you can already feel it from this chapter, for example.

This is stuff that really interests me as I write, you know. How a single change in canon can spur so many diverse developments... Well, look forward to the next target? ^^'


	11. Target 11

**Guest - I don't have Tsuna join because he wouldn't have conceivably done so, seeing as he wouldn't have wanted to. Basically, it'd be kind of OOC. I can understand that this sort of stance would not satisfy you or others reading this, but my own priorities are different, and I can only hope that's fine. Whatever the case, I appreciate the input so thank you for reviewing!**

* * *

 **Target 11: Tsuna's Improvement**

* * *

While his tests had practically the same results as when Squalo wasn't around, Tsuna would be lying if he claimed he hadn't improved physically at all, especially when he was being one of the best students at anything requiring stamina. At first, he had been surprised when out of his whole class, he had been one of the last three still running around the school without getting tired; so had the PE teacher. Other classmates even speculated he had taken breaks while doing those laps, but that hadn't actually been true as the other two would witnesses to it.

Afterwards, he started to realize that going up many staircases, doing laps around whole neighborhoods and regular morning jogs like Squalo had told him was improving his stamina a lot: before, just half a lap around the school was enough to get him out of breath. His class, picking up on that, had been even more hesitant to call Tsuna by his usual nickname, still greatly surprised themselves.

At the ending of a particular PE class, a classmate approached him with a cheerful smile. "Yo!" he greeted, making Tsuna flinch; he hadn't noticed him at all. With a confused expression, Tsuna turned around, only to find that one of the most popular students in his class, Takeshi Yamamoto, had been the one who started talking to him. "You were awesome back there, Tsuna! I could barely even breathe by the 10th lap, but you still kept going!"

Admittedly, Tsuna was surprised: he had realized he was getting better already, but he wasn't expecting other people to praise him, No-Good Tsuna, regardless. Even so, it was true that, somehow, he had started to surpass even Takeshi Yamamoto in terms of stamina; he thought that would never happen. "Th-thanks..." However, since he really didn't think he would ever get complimented for anything, Tsuna felt flattered, though also extremely nervous and embarrassed, and smiled with barely any awareness he was doing so.

 _Having to get to the top of buildings with over 20 floors by using the stairs over 5 times can make you do that..._ With time, the numbers had really increased, though Tsuna hadn't even taken note of that; they were still big no matter how they changed. Besides, Squalo would make it look so easy whenever he would have to accompany him throughout (to make sure he wouldn't take breaks). Yamamoto chuckled. "You're welcome! You know, I've been hearing you're friends with Ryohei-senpai from 2-A; is that true?"

It was still greatly strange to Tsuna that he had someone he could consider a friend, especially in someone as eccentric as Ryohei. He was appreciative of that fact, but even now, it hadn't truly sunk in, so being directly asked about it warranted a slightly surprised expression and some thought from Tsuna before speaking. "Well, uh, yeah," Tsuna awkwardly answered, wondering what Ryohei would be doing: something extreme, he deducted... whatever it happened to be.

While Ryohei was known throughout the school, it was mostly because of how he would invite anyone he thought was good enough to join the Boxing club, and was rather persistent about in: in other words, he was more infamous than famous. "Cool! You didn't look like you had any friends before, so that's good to know," Yamamoto said, a kind smile on his face, "I heard he's kind of eccentric, but he doesn't look like he's a bad guy. Anyway, I got club practice now, so I gotta get going!"

With that, Yamamoto grinned cheerfully and left while waving at Tsuna, making Tsuna nervously wave back. _I've never talked to Yamamoto like this before,_ he pointed out in his mind, _Was he... looking out for me?_ Somewhat in awe, Tsuna stared off at Yamamoto as he left and only when he was no longer in his line of sight did he stop.

Before focusing on what he was doing before, Tsuna smiled, having a feeling that wouldn't be the last he'd hear of Yamamoto...

* * *

 **Author's Notes:**

* * *

Since the last Target, this story got 6 favorites and 7 followers; thank you! Anyway, we finally see Yamamoto! I know his name is Takeshi but I just can't help it (if it serves as an excuse, Takeshi is his brain, but let's just put that past us if you don't know the reference). Katekyo Hitman Reborn, or at least just the manga, is actually _really_ mean-spirited, and in there, I'm pretty sure Yamamoto never cared at all about Tsuna because he thought he was lazy and not good at anything: the memories from present me are vague since I haven't watched or read KHR in years, but I'm pretty sure the manga implies that Yamamoto didn't think anything good of Tsuna at first because of such reasons (and in the manga, you could really see that, but mostly because he had given up any hope of being good at something). I mean, if we think about it, we do have to wonder why good people like Yamamoto just didn't care about this poor guy being practically bullied. With Ryohei, at least, we can give the excuse that he didn't even know Tsuna existed at first (because he's kinda narrow-minded).

It's with that in mind that I think Yamamoto, after seeing Tsuna improve, would start thinking differently of him because, well, if he's showing results, perhaps he is making an effort after all. Perhaps Tsuna isn't just some lazy, talentless guy who doesn't care about doing his best; what if he hadn't been all along? You get what I'm saying? Basically, Yamamoto, finally seeing him as just a regular guy, starts realizing the shit he's gone through and as you saw, this happened. Or something along those lines. Either way, you all just wanna see him interact with Squalo ^^' Well, don't you worry... Though, speaking of Squalo, isn't Squalo being a more successful home tutor than Reborn right now? Because Reborn didn't change Tsuna all that much in the series and in here, Tsuna shows results after a few months... Woah, Squalo somehow is the better choice 0.0 Uh, look forward to the next target!


	12. Target 12

**Target 12: Tsuna's Friendships**

* * *

... He wasn't sure of how or why it had happened, but Tsuna was going home with Yamamoto. "So, Ryohei-senpai's at the Boxing club? Makes sense," Yamamoto said with a cheerful smile on his face.

"Y-yeah, that's why he's not around." _And instead,_ you're _here,_ Tsuna mentally added while staring at a very carefree-looking Yamamoto. _How did this happen, really?_ Tsuna did remember that Yamamoto had started talking to him after school, and, just like that, they had already been heading out of the school gates before Tsuna could even process that they were actually walking home together. "He was almost going to drag me there though..."

Yamamoto chuckled. "That sounds exactly like him! You know, I got invited to the Boxing club a while ago too: since I'm in the Baseball club, I had to refuse." Suddenly, throwing Tsuna off, Yamamoto had stopped in his tracks as his carefree smile disappeared. "Hey, I don't know about you, but I think that long-haired man over there is staring at us."

"Huh?!" Immediately, Tsuna looked straight ahead of him, only to be horrified at the sight of Squalo scowling at him angrily. "S-Squalo...!" _This isn't good!_ While Tsuna was panicked, Yamamoto was simply curious about the guy known as Squalo, having not at all detected the killing intent practically oozing out of him.

Due to that, he actually had the courage to speak up. "Oh, you know him?" he asked, only to then turn to Squalo with a grin and wave at him. "Hey there! My name's Takeshi Yamamoto; and you are?" _He's being friendly to him?!_ Tsuna thought incredulously, spotting Squalo glancing at him. _This really isn't good at all!_

Meanwhile, Squalo glared at Yamamoto, having deducted he was the cause for Tsuna being so late: usually, Tsuna would arrive 20 minutes earlier than the time he had taken that day, which Squalo admittedly found strange. Besides that, Squalo could see him being friendly to Tsuna and wearing the same uniform as him: he was definitely a classmate, and most likely some friend of Tsuna's. However, what truly struck him as awful was the fact that Yamamoto was casually greeting Squalo and introducing himself as if there was nothing to fear; he was that oblivious... just like Ryohei, who also seemed to have the guts to act like Squalo wasn't a professional assassin.

So, rather than just annoyed at Tsuna's tardiness, Squalo was extremely annoyed and slightly frustrated at the sight of Yamamoto as well, causing him to flail his sword around as he shouted, **"Voooi,** not another piece of trash...!"

* * *

 **Author's Notes:**

* * *

In which Squalo suffers ^^' Well, Squalo already sorta suffers with Ryohei, but the realization that he'll also have to suffer with Yamamoto makes him nothing short of pissed off. Anyway, since the last target, this story got 5 favorites and and 7 followers; thank you! ^^ Tsuna's friend-collecting continues! Though, it's mostly the other party approaching him instead. Squalo isn't encouraging friendships, but he is improving Tsuna in certain areas, and that makes Tsuna start to have another appeal as not just a loser, but a more or less regular guy who didn't have any friends because they all thought he was a loser. Sounds lonely, huh? While Reborn would attract conflict to Tsuna and have him make friends, Squalo doesn't really do much and it all falls into place anyway. Squalo's the better tutor, just sayin' XD

Squalo and Yamamoto interacting is probably something people are looking forward to because it's a thing in KHR, but let's remember that Yamamoto did not by any means kick Squalo's ass here so things aren't the exact same. Even then, you can imagine they'd get along wonderfully even without that, seeing as Yamamoto has such a tolerable personality to grumpy assassins ^^' The thing about Yamamoto is that he's really refreshing and easy to write because of his overall friendly demeanor, so it's actually really nice having him around. Squalo and Tsuna are also fairly easy, so I've got a really nice group here. Whatever the case, look forward to more Yamamoto? The pace is as usual, and we still have characters to introduce into the narrative, so I imagine this'll have a lot of targets...


	13. Target 13

**Target 13: Yamamoto**

* * *

"Voi, what the hell are you doing here?!" It had started all over again. Now, instead of bickering with Ryohei, Squalo would bicker with Yamamoto. Tsuna's hands were already covering his face out of frustration as he found himself unmotivated to do any work.

Since Ryohei had Boxing club practice, he wasn't around, meaning that Tsuna was only with Yamamoto, doing his homework. Tsuna wasn't particularly sure of when it had started either, but Yamamoto had become friends with him... he figured. "I'm with Tsuna again," Yamamoto simply answered, looking fairly carefree.

That, of course, only served to piss Squalo off. "And who said you could do that, huh?!" Squalo pointed at him with his sword, making Yamamoto only slightly surprised.

With a curious expression, Yamamoto asked, "I need permission? That's kinda weird." Somehow, everyone could simply ignore the sword after the first time they would see it. In Yamamoto's case, he just assumed it was a toy, but what of the others? "Well, I guess Tsuna let me in then."

"Voi, that's not what I meant, you idiot!" The urge to kill Yamamoto was tremendous to Squalo, but the Ninth had already explicitly stated in a letter (after his first report asking about it) that he could not cut anyone apart. "You're a distraction and that piece of trash is working, so get out of here!"

... Yamamoto turned to Tsuna ( _"Vooooii!"_ ). "Am I being a distraction?" he asked, an apologetic smile on his face. "If so, sorry for that." Yamamoto scratched his head, somewhat troubled. He then glanced at Squalo, whose killing glare and scowl were enough to scare even middle-aged men out of their wits; Yamamoto was unaffected.

At the fact that Tsuna actually had to speak up, and the expectant gazes of both Yamamoto and Squalo, Tsuna looked almost like he was about to cry. "U-uh..." On one hand, Tsuna didn't think Yamamoto was a distraction but, on the other hand, saying that could make Squalo even angrier than he already was.

 **"Speak already, you shitty brat!"**

Tsuna practically jumped out of his seat in fear. "Hiiii, I'm sorry...!" With that, Tsuna bolted from the room, leaving Squalo and Yamamoto to stare off at him with confused expressions.

... Afterwards, they glanced at each other. "Is he alright?" Yamamoto asked. "Maybe I was being a distraction if he's that bothered." Yamamoto chuckled weakly, not even considering that it was all Squalo's fault instead.

 _Tch, that brat's speed's improved..._ Meanwhile, Squalo was far more serious, starting to notice the actual changes he was causing to Tsuna. _Not that it'll make a difference in the end. There's no way he's gonna get as good as Xanxus, after all._ Squalo was perfectly aware of how bad at everything Tsuna happened to be: no matter how serious he could be when training Tsuna, there would be no way he would improve that much.

Finally focusing on Yamamoto from the fact that he had been staring at him while he was thinking, he shouted out as his response, **"Voi,** just get the fuck out of here already!"

* * *

 **Author's Notes:  
**

* * *

Hahaha, sorry for being late. I still have a bunch of Targets, so it's not like I was late because I needed to write more desperately. Life's kinda busy. Anyway, amazingly enough, this story got 10 favorites and 11 followers since the last Target! Even though I did upload monthly, I was still later than usual, so it's awesome to see that regardless, people are still following this! Whatever the case, Yamamoto and Squalo, of course, get along, uh, splendidly... More like Squalo just hates him. Yamamoto's such a good guy, though. It seems that he's so nice that evil people don't tend to like him. When Mammon was the tutor over my other story, he also didn't like him at all, hahaha... And hey, it seems as though Tsuna is showing improvement! It further proves that Squalo is somehow the better tutor XD Either way, look forward to the next target?


	14. Target 14

**Target 14: Japanese Superstitions**

* * *

Eventually, Yamamoto and Ryohei got to meet when school ended and Tsuna was heading home. Since Ryohei wasn't busy with the Boxing club and Yamamoto wasn't busy with the Baseball club either, both had asked to go home with Tsuna. It was then that, beyond Tsuna's expectations, Yamamoto and Ryohei, both from different classes and years, started interacting as though Tsuna had united them in some way or form.

While Tsuna did not feel bad over that, it was still awkward in his perspective, as he never considered that such a situation would arise from him, someone who scarcely knows other people well. The fact still slightly awed Tsuna, but the walk had been reverting the process little by little. "So you've been extremely getting along with this guy while I wasn't around!" Ryohei concluded from Tsuna and Yamamoto's explanation, which was fairly straightforward. "I get it! Will you join the Boxing club then, Yamamoto?!"

Yamamoto chuckled. "Didn't I already refuse your invitation before? I can't join because I'm in the Baseball club; sorry." Despite his words, Yamamoto wasn't very bothered by Ryohei, instead finding it amusing that Ryohei had seemingly forgotten all about that.

"What?! I didn't know to the extreme!" Ryohei exclaimed, looking genuinely surprised. Afterwards, he wore a somewhat thoughtful expression. "I see... So you can't join because the schedules overlap... That's extremely unfortunate, but I understand! After all, if someone asked the same out of me, I'd also refuse!" _Then don't invite everyone to your club!_ Tsuna retorted in his mind, staring at Ryohei blankly.

Most likely because Ryohei could relate to Yamamoto's response, he had let him go, while Tsuna would still be eternally asked to join his club. Tsuna was already completely sure he did not want to join the Boxing club, but he knew Ryohei wasn't going to let him go from just that. _How am I ever going to get him off my back about this, really...? It's not like fighting interests me anyway, so I don't really want to learn._ In general, Tsuna had no expectations for himself when it came to anything, especially standing up for himself in something like fighting others. To begin with, he found little joy in violence: mostly, fighting was simply sad. As such, he did not see much use in joining the boxing club, as much as Ryohei attempted to convince him.

He liked being with Ryohei, seeing as he was his friend, but he wondered if entering the boxing club only for that sake would be worth it: Ryohei had wanted his presence so as to polish his potential. If Tsuna did not make an effort, he would be betraying his friend in that regard. _My friend..._ "Hmm? Is something wrong, Tsuna?" Yamamoto asked, somewhat curious.

Tsuna realized he had been spacing out while Yamamoto and Ryohei had been pleasantly talking about their clubs; they seemed to get along rather well. However, even beyond that, Tsuna noted with vacantly surprised eyes, Ryohei and Yamamoto had chosen to be with Tsuna, and they appeared to be pleased with that choice. "Now that I think about it, you've been extremely quiet for a while," Ryohei remarked, "Are you alright, Sawada?" Both were showing concern for his well-being, and both were people Tsuna could consider his friends, something he had never experienced before.

... Rather than thinking about Ryohei's invitations and the implications of joining the boxing club, as he had been previously, Tsuna couldn't help but smile. The changes that had occurred to his daily life were truly amazing: finally, there were more things he could be concerned about beyond Kyoko when in school... And finally, he had people he could rely on; it had all started with one event. _Ever since Squalo came over, all sorts of things have been happening, but... without them, I probably wouldn't have met them, and be this happy with my life._

 _So,_ Tsuna considered, _in a way, Squalo's actually been looking out for me...?_

* * *

 **. . .**

* * *

Meanwhile, as Squalo tapped his foot impatiently waiting for Tsuna's arrival, he sneezed.

"Oh my," Nana reacted, having just entered the living room, "Could it be that someone's talking about you?" She smiled cheerfully at him, seeing him raise an eyebrow skeptically in response to her words. It amused her that he was sitting on the couch, merely waiting for Tsuna: to her, it meant that he cared enough to do so, and it did seem like Tsuna had been in a better mood recently.

... To Squalo, it just meant he really wanted to slash Tsuna in three for his tardiness. "Hmph, as if! That's just your shitty superstitions!" Even more impatient from the conversation he just had with Nana, he stood up from the couch and stomped over to the front door. "I'm gonna go find your slow piece of trash and drag his ass over here, got it?! I'm out!" With the actual courtesy of saying any parting words to Nana, he practically slammed the front door open and left the house.

Nana giggled. "It looks like you're in good hands, Tsu-kun..."

... The irony remained bittersweet.

* * *

 **Author's Notes:**

* * *

I don't believe people join boxing for self-defense primarily or that people into that just wanna fight, by the way ^^' I just put it in as an angle I thought Tsuna would be thinking about. Anyway, since the last target, this story got 4 favorites and 7 followers! Thank you! This time, I made sure to upload early because you sure had to wait last month! In terms of targets, I wrote a whole batch in one sitting, so yeah, I'm not particularly troubled in that regard. If there's anything that I kinda like, it's that sort of realization Tsuna has that he only accomplished all of these things kinda because his home tutor was there: in the series, it was Reborn, obviously, but in here, it's Squalo, and Squalo only increased his stamina as far as you know, so it's pretty amazing. Though, before, I didn't really like it when Tsuna realized that in the series because it never seemed like Tsuna was developing or that Reborn was teaching him much. Well, times change...?

Whatever the case, look forward to the next target!


	15. Target 15

**Target 15: Boredom**

* * *

In the midst of extreme boredom out of having to wait for Tsuna to arrive from school, Squalo would occasionally take a walk along the neighborhood. He would attempt to relax (as much as possible for someone like Squalo), reflect on his situation and see if he could think of a way to free Xanxus from his ice prison. Naturally, he would seldom succeed at thinking up such a plan, but he wasn't about to give up on his boss just yet. "Um!"

Squalo turned around with a menacing scowl. He had already detected a presence but he didn't think said presence would engage in any conversation (of all things) with him. At least, from what Squalo could see, the red-haired boy wearing glasses now directly in front of him seemed nowhere near an enemy to be cautious of. "You d-dropped this!" He was clearly intimidated by Squalo's presence, too.

He appeared to be wearing a uniform different from Tsuna's, but despite being a student, he wasn't at school yet for some reason. If he happened to be late, that would perhaps justify his unnerved demeanor further. "I wasn't s-sure whether these were important, but..." Squalo stared at what the boy had extended out from the palm of his hand.

Those tiny, square-like objects were the explosives he would incorporate in his sword. While they wouldn't simply detonate without being activated, it was still unrecommended to handle them carelessly; Squalo grimaced. A few minutes ago, Squalo had removed them for sword maintenance (that he would now do in a calm, empty space without having to worry about bumping into people like Ryohei), but it seemed as though they weren't perfectly safe in his pockets, Squalo noted. Squalo quickly, yet carefully took the explosives from the boy's hand without warning, making him fearfully flinch. "Voi, you better be glad this was something important. Otherwise, you would've been cut in three for interrupting me!"

As Squalo raised his sword in the boy's line of sight, pointing it threateningly, the boy widened his eyes in shock. "You hear me?!" Squalo grinned as he saw the boy let out a scream of horror from taking notice of the distinct metallic glint of his sword and ran away in fear.

Finally, someone other than Tsuna had reacted to his sword properly.

* * *

 **Author's Notes:**

* * *

And yes, Squalo **_legit_** has sword explosives, look at his debut episode! I don't make this stuff up! Kinda strange he lays off using them later on... Would it be because they are actually super dangerous to handle?! Like, since the Vongola and KHR's mafia in general has some pretty high-tech stuff even in the present, I imagine Squalo's explosive thingies would be equally advanced, especially because, when they were used, he didn't have to do anything in particular and they just flew off. Whatever, just accept the headcanon! Also, dat Shouichi; he had to appear somewhere. I think I originally wanted Haru to show up, but it ended up being Shouichi because, uh, yeah, I should have him around somewhere in the story beforehand. Anyway, since the last Target, this story got 1 favorite and 3 followers! Thank you for that! And, uh, look forward to the next Target? ^^


End file.
